The company has reported positive pre-clinical results and confirmed the efficacy of the vaccine on the live SARS CoV-2 virus.
ACvac1 is a prophylactic COVID-19 vaccine designed to provide protection for healthy individuals from infection.
The vaccine consists of major components of the virus spike glycoprotein that can induce required immune responses to avoid the virus from interacting with its target host cells, thereby avoiding the cells from getting infected and the virus from multiplying.
Axon chief science officer Dr Norbert Zilka said: “The data from the virus neutralisation test showed that our strategy was successful. ACvac1 very precisely instructs the immune system to neutralise the virus.”
Initially, mice vaccinated with ACvac1 produced a high titer of antibodies in the blood. These antibodies preferably targeted a specific and susceptible part of the spike protein, which facilitates the virus to infect the cells and replicate.
Additionally, Axon showed that the increased antibodies effectively neutralised the live SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The company has evaluated the neutralisation by investigating whether blood from recently vaccinated mice can inhibit cellular infection on in-vitro exposure of cells to SARS-CoV-2.
Finally, the vaccinated mice did not demonstrate any signs of off-target effects or adverse reactions, said the company.
Axon CEO Michal Fresser said: “With today’s positive results, our peptide-based vaccination platform has proven its potential use for Covid-19. We are progressing toward clinical trials to bring the world a vaccine without compromising safety and efficacy.”
Recently, AstraZeneca has temporarily stopped worldwide trials of its investigational AZD1222 vaccine for Covid-19 following an unexplained event of a participant falling sick.